Jet operated refrigerator



y 8, 1956 R. RIDGLEY 2,744,392

JET OPERATED REFRIGERATOR Filed Dec. 3, 1954 Raymond Ridg/ey INVENTOR.

BY ml- (am pawn 3M United States Patent JET OPERATED REFRIGERATOR Raymond Ridgley, Marysville, Wash.

Application December 3, 1954, Serial No. 472,919

5 Claims. (Cl. 62-117.65)

This invention generally relates to a jet operated refrigerator, and more particularly provides an improvement in the jet operating system disclosed in my previous patent, No. 2,683,361, issued July 13, 1954.

Normally, in the operation of jet operated refrigerators, extreme difficulty has been encountered due to the entrainment or formation of gas in the pump,-thereby causing'a vapor lock in the driving system. Also, dithculty has been encountered due to back flow into the evaporator caused by failure of the jets or the pump,

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a jet operated refrigerator in which no gas can be entrapped in the pumping system so that the jets may be continuously operated and so arranged that no back flow into the evaporator will be permitted in the event the jet does not operate This is accomplished by the present invention by the provision of a motivating liquid actuated by a pump which is completely immersed in the motivating liquid, thereby preventing entrapment of air therein wherein the motivating liquid is forced through the jet for reducing the pressure in the evaporator and mixing the refrigerant gas with the motivating liquid and discharging it into a separating tank. The refrigerant gas is then separated from the motivating liquid, and the gas is passed through a condenser and into a liquid receiver tank from whence it is passed through theevaporator control valve for expansion in the evaporator. The device also utilizes a by-pass valve around the evaporator control valve so that the liquid refrigerants may be passed directly from the receiver tank through the evaporator for defrosting the same. A check valve is provided between the jet and the evaporator to prevent back flow of the motivating liquid or the refrigerant gas when the motivating liquid circulation pump is inoperative.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present'invention to provide an improved jet operated refrigerator utilizing a motivating liquid in conjunction with the jets for reducing the gas pressure in the evaporator.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a jet operated refrigerator having a completely immersed pump wherein the pump is provided with two independent pumping actions, one of which supplies the motivating liquid to the jet and one of which pumps the mixed motivating fluid and refrigerant gas into the separating tank.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a check valve between the jets and the evaporator for preventing back flow of the motivating liquid or 're-' frigerant gas into the evaporator when the circulating pump is inoperative.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a by-pass valve for flooding the evaporator with liquid refrigerant to defrost the same.

Other objects and'the advantages of the present inven-' tion will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing inlwhichthe figure is a schematic illustration of a jet 2,744,392 Patented May 78,, 1956 erally designated by the numeral 16 is completely im- I mersed in a quantity of circulating or motivating liquid 26. The housing 22 on the undersurface thereof is provided with an inlet opening 28 which provides an inlet to the lower impeller 20, and the housing 22 is provided with a radially extending outlet conduit 30 which is a discharge for the lower impeller 20. The upper impeller 18' is provided with an inlet conduit 32whieh projectsinto the housing 22 and the upper impeller 18 is also provided with a discharge conduit 34 which extends. radially from the upperirnpeller 13'. For each impeller 18 and 20, the inlets 32 and 2.8,respectively, are adjacent the center of the impeller 18 or 20, and'the outlets 34 and 30 project radially therefrom in the nature of a conventional centrifugal pump, thereby forming substantially two complete pump units driven by a single drive shaft 14 which all is contained within the tank 10.

The refrigerating system per se generally comprises an evaporating coil 36 enclosed in a suitable housing 38, and theevaporative' coil 36 is connected to a-supply line 40 that is connected to a liquid refrigerant receiver 42.

The supply line 44 is divided into. two branches 44 and I 46 wherein the branch 44 is provided with a control valve or expansion valve 48 and the branch 46 is provided with a by-pass valve 50. By opening the by-pass valve 50, the liquid refrigerant 52 may be passed directly from the receiver tank 42 through the supply line 46-, branch 46, by-pass valve SOand directly through the evaporator coil 36, thereby defrosting the evaporator coil 36 in the usual manner. In the normal operation 'of the refrigerating system, the liquid refrigerant 52 is supplied through the conduit 40 and into the branch 44 and then through the expansion or control valve 48 wherein the liquid re: frigerantexpands'inrthe evap'oratorcoil for absorbing the heat and reducingthe temperaturein the usual manner.

The refrigerant gas that is discharged from the evaporator coil 36 passes through a conduit 54 that is connected to a housing 56 having a ball check 'valve 58 therein urged against its valve seat by a coil compression spring 60 thereby forming a spring loadedscheck valve for permitting: flow of gases from the evaporator 36' into the jet housing 62 through. theconduit 64'. The spring urged ball check valve'58 will prevent back flow of refrigerant gas from the jet housing 62 into-thecon duit 54 and into the evaporator coil 36, thereby assuringthat heatedgases will not return to the evaporator 36.;

The ball check valve 58 also prevents passage of the circulating or motivating liquid 26 into the evaporator 36.

It is noted that the jet housing 62 is provided with a'jet, 66 on the end of the discharge, conduit 30 from the lower impeller 20 wherein the jet is funneled into theinlet line.

32 of the upper impeller 18, wherein therefrigerant, gas will be mixed, with the motivating liquid 26 and pumped the receiver tank 42 wherein the liquid refrigerant 52 is then ready to repeat the cycle.

In operation of the refrigerator according to the prcsent invention, the motor 12 will drive the double centrifugal pump 16 through the drive shaft 14, thereby rotating the upper and lower impellers 18. This rotation will take the motivating liquid 26 in through the inlet 28 and discharge it through the discharge conduit 30 and thence through the jet 66. This jet action will tend to reduce the refrigerant gas pressure in the evaporator 36 by picking the refrigerant gas up and forcing it in mixed condition through the inlet conduit 32 into the upper impeller 13 from which it is discharged through the conduit 34 in mixed condition into the motivating liquid 26. The refrigerant gas then passes upwardly from the upper surface of the motivating liquid 26 into the upper chamber or portion of the tank 10 and then through conduit 68 into the condenser coil 7%. As the refrigerant gas passes through the condenser coil 79, the gas is changed into a liquid refrigerant and is drained into the receiver tank 42. The liquid refrigerant 52 in the receiver tank 42 passes through the conduit and through branch 44 and control valve 43 into the evaporator 36 where it is expanded by the absorption of heat. After the liquid refrigerant 52 has been expanded to a gaseous state in the evaporator 36, it is again circulated through the jet 66 due to the suction of the jet action caused by the jet 65. When it is desired to defrost the evaporator 36, the control valve 48 is by-passed when the by-pass St) is opened, thereby permitting the liquid refrigerant to pass directly into the evaporator 36, thereby defrosting the same. The ball check valve 58 prevents back flow of gaseous refrigerant or motivating liquid 26 when the motor 12 together with the double centrifugal pump 16 is inoperative.

Accordingly, it will be seen that the present invention provides a jet system in which there is hardly any chance of vapor lock of the pump or the jet nozzles and in which back how of the gas or motivating liquid is prevented by the check valve. Since the motor 12 and pump 16 are contained within the tank 10, the various problems of sealing by gaskets are eliminated.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

I. A refrigerator system comprising a circulation tank, a quantity of motivating liquid partially filling said circulation tank, an evaporator, a conduit interconnecting the lower end of the evaporator and the circulation tank, a check valve in said conduit to prevent back flow into said evaporator, a first pump submerged in said circulating tank, a driving motor in the upper portion of said circulating tank, a driving connection between said motor and first pump, a jet nozzle, a pressure conduit extending from said first pump to said jet nozzle, a housing surrounding said jet nozzle, said interconnecting conduit extending into said housing, a second pump adjacent said first pump and being driven by the driving connection, an inlet conduit on said second pump in communication with said housing, a discharge for said second pump in the lower portion of the circulation tank for discharging the mixed motivating fluid and refrigerant gas into the circulation tank, said circulation tank having a vapor area in the upper portion, a condenser and liquid refrigerant receiver tank communicating with said vapor area, a supply conduit extending from the liquid refrigerant receiver tank to the evaporator, and a control valve in said supply conduit for controlling the flow of liquid refrigerant into the evaporator.

2. A refrigerator system comprising a circulation tank, a quantity of motivating liquid partially filling said circulation tank, an evaporator, a conduit interconnecting the lower end of the evaporator and the circulation tank, a check valve in said conduit to prevent back flow into said evaporator, a first pump submerged in said circulating tank, a driving motor in the upper portion of said circulating tank, a driving connection bctween said motor and first pump, a jet nozzle, a pressure conduit extending from said first pump to said jct nozzle, a housing surrounding said jet nozzle, said interconnecting conduit extending into said housing, a sccond pump adjacent said first pump and being driven by the driving connection, an inlet conduit on said second pump in communication with said housing, a discharge for said second pump in the lower portion of the circulation tank for discharging the mixed motivating fluid and refrigerant gas into the circulation tank, said circulation tank having a vapor area in the upper portion, a condenser and liquid refrigerant receiver tank communicating with said vapor area, a supply conduit extending from the liquid refrigerant receiver tank to the evaporator, and a control valve in said supply conduit for controlling the flow of liquid rcfrigcrant into the evaporator, said pumps being positioned in superposed relation, a single housing surrounding both of said pumps, 2! se arating plate separating the housing into two compartments.

3. A refrigerator system comprising a circulation tank, a quantity of motivating liquid partially filling said circulation tank, an evaporator, a conduit interconnecting the lower end of the evaporator and the circulation tank, a check valve in said conduit to prevent back flow into said evaporator, 21 first pump submerged in said circulating tank, a driving motor in the upper portion of said circulating tank, a driving connection between said motor and first pump, a jet nozzle, a pressure conduit extending from said first pump to said jet nozzle, a housing surrounding said jet nozzle, said interconnecting conduit extending into said housing, a second pump adjacent said first pump and being driven by the driving connection. an inlet conduit on said second pump in communicat n with said housing, a discharge for said second pump in the lower portion of the circulation tank for discharging the mixed motivating liquid and refrigerant gas into the circulation tank beneath the surface of the liquid, said circulation tank having a vapor area in the upper por tion, a condenser and liquid refrigerant receiver tank communicating with said vapor area, a supply conduit extending from the liquid refrigerant receiver tank to the evaporator, and a control valve in said supply conduit for controlling the flow of liquid refrigerant into the evaporator, said liquid refrigerant supply tank ha ing a by-pass valve for admitting liquid refrigerant directly into the evaporator.

4. A refrigeration system comprising an enlarged tank, a quantity of circulating liquid in said enlarged tank. a condenser communicating with the upper portion of said enlarged tank, a liquid refrigerant receiver tank communicating with said condenser, an evaporator, a supply conduit interconnecting said receiver tank and evaporator. a pump mounted in the lower portion of said enlarger] tank and immersed in said circulating liquid, means for driving said pump, a jet nozzle, a pressure conduit connected between said pump and nozzle, a housing enclosing said nozzle, a suction conduit interconnecting said nozzle housing and the discharge end of the evaporator for exhausting refrigerant gas from the evaporator, a discharge conduit extending from said housing for discharging the mixed refrigerant gas and circulating liquid into the lower portion of said enlarged tank below the surface of the liquid, said refrigerant gases separating from the upper surface of the circulating liquid and passing into the condenser, and a discharge pump positioned in said discharge conduit, means for driving said discharge pump thereby discharging the mixture from the nozzle housing.

5. A refrigeration system comprising an enlarged tank, a quantity of circulating liquid in said enlarged tank, a condenser communicating with the upper portion of said enlarged tank, a liquidrefrigerant receiver tank communicating with said condenser, an evaporator, a supply conduit interconnecting said receiver tank and evaporator, a

tween said pump and nozzle, a housing enclosing said nozzle, a suction conduit interconnecting said nozzle housing and the discharge end of the evaporator for exhausting refrigerant gas from the evaporator, a discharge conduit extending from said housing for discharging the mixed refrigerant gas and circulating liquid into the lower portion of said enlarged tank below the surface of the liquid, said refrigerant gases separating from the upper surface of the circulating liquid and passing into the condenser, and a check valve in said suction conduit to prevent back flow of refrigerant gas and circulating liquid into the evaporator when the pump is inoperative.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

